EMERALD BOWL / UCLA enjoys its new image and popularity

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, December 24, 2006

UCLA still stands for "The University of California at Los Angeles," but since Dec. 2, football fans know UCLA as "The Team That Beat USC and Knocked It Out of the National Championship Game."

That's the identity the Bruins will take into Wednesday's Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park against Florida State.

The fact that UCLA finished fourth in the Pac-10, barely had a winning record and experienced a four-game losing streak is incidental these days. The Bruins won their most recent game, and it happened to be one of the biggest upsets of the season. On national television. Against its archrival. Over a team that was ranked No. 2 and would be playing Ohio State in the national championship game on Jan. 8 if it had won.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was pleased when he learned four days before the USC-UCLA game that his team would face the Bruins. He had seen them against Oregon and was not impressed.

"Then I saw them play Southern Cal," Bowden said, "and I told (Emerald Bowl executive director Gary Cavalli), 'What was the name of those other schools you were considering for us to play?' "

UCLA coach Karl Dorrell is reluctant to rehash the USC game, and claims the win over Oregon State, which ended the Bruins' four-game losing streak, was more "instrumental" to the season.

That may be, but the win over Oregon State is not why ESPN is expecting a high TV rating for the Emerald Bowl. Cavalli said there was a noticeable spike in ticket sales in the days immediately after the USC game -- with 1,000 tickets sold each of the next three days.

"We've had a lot more fan support since that USC game, and it's got to help recruiting," Bruins running back Chris Markey said.

It has not made a noticeable impact on the Bruins' recruiting yet, with only eight players having committed. It still might be a factor, though, because most Pac-10 teams get the bulk of their commitments in January.

The USC game has made an impact on the Seminoles. FSU running back Lorenzo Booker, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, was impressed by how many times the Bruins defense prevented the Trojans from converting first downs.

"For USC to be that explosive and not convert on so many short-yardage plays, that speaks volumes about (UCLA's) defense," Booker said.

Indeed, it is the UCLA defense that made a name for itself in that game. People around the Pac-10 had noticed the dramatic improvement in the Bruins defense under new defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, and everyone else got the news in UCLA's 13-9 victory over the Trojans.

It ended a streak of 63 consecutive games in which USC had scored at least 20 points. Not since a 10-6 loss to Utah in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl had USC been held to fewer points. And that USC team finished 6-6 for its third straight season without a winning record.

This USC team is an offensive powerhouse that UCLA shut out in the second half. The Bruins stuffed the Trojans' running game and limited the effectiveness of quarterback John David Booty.

"We talked as defensive line that if we get in his face and hit him a few times, he's not the quarterback people think he is," defensive end Justin Hickman said.

The Bruins hit Booty on his first pass attempt and pressured him the entire game.

"I talked to (USC wide receiver) Dwayne Jarrett later and he said every time he turned around his quarterback was on the ground," Hickman said.

This was the same defense that ranked 113 of 119 Division I-A teams in total defense the previous season and could not stop any team from running right through them. The difference was Walker, who paid attention to all the little things, even making players tuck in their shirts and sit up straight.

Walker's reputation grew so quickly from that game that he drew interest from several schools looking for a new head coach. Reportedly, he had an opportunity to interview for the Stanford job that ultimately went to Jim Harbaugh, but Walker declined and will stay with the Bruins.